Web feed for two plate wide rotary printing presses



July 19, 1932.

WEB FEED FOR TWO Filed June 13, 1931 gwuantoz Patented July 19, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE EDMUND W. DEAN, 0F BATTLE CREEK, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO DU 'PLEX IRINTING PRESS COMPANY, OF BATTLE CREEK, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN WEB FEED FOR TWO PLATE WIDE ROTARY PRINTING IPRESSES Application filed June 13,

each such perfecting mechanism requires its own paper feeding and handling mechanism, and therefore a large number of web rolls must be handled in operating such presses. In an effort to avoid this it has been proposed to arrange the perfecting mechanisms side by side in different vertical planes, and to use a four page wide web roll and slit the web longitudinally and lead one section directly to one of the two page wide printmg mechanisms arranged in line with that end of the web roll and to deflect the other section between the web roll and the other printing mechanism, and direct such deflected section of web to the other printing mechanism; this of course resulted in very unequal strains upon the deflected section of the web and the straight section of the web, and for this reason such feeds have not been adopted.

The object of my invention is to reduce the number of paper feeding mechanisms required for such presses and lessen the number of web rolls to be handled, by providing novel means whereby wide webs can be utilized, and the strains and deflections of the web sections equalized, and the center line of the web and printing mechanisms kept coincident, thus lessening the floor space required. I

In accordance with the present invention each four page wide web roll is arranged at one end of the press with the axis of the web roll parallel with the plate and impression cylinders in the aligned perfecting mechanisms; and the longitudinal center line of the wide web coinciding with the longitudinal 1931. Serial No. 544,191.

until they are aligned one directly over the other, and eachsection is then led directly to the related perfecting mechanism; and both sections of the printed web are assembled at the folder in the usual mannerif de-' sired. i) I The drawing illustrates the invention as applied to a two page wide tubular plate printing press, such as shown in the aforesaid Bechman patent; and to enable others to understand the invention I will ex lain the invention with reference to said rawing and summarize in the claims the essential features thereof which I desire to protect.

In said drawing:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammat1c top plan view of an eight page tubular plate printing press provided with my novel web supply devices;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation-of Fig. 1. Y

The drawing shows only one deck of a tubular plate printing press; each deck usually includes at least two perfecting mechan sms, arranged side by side in a straight line, and each providedwith its web supply devices. customarily such a press has a m'ultiple of superposed decks, each deck containing two or more perfecting mechanisms.

Each perfecting mechanism of a, single page tubular press type comprises two plate cylinders P and P and cooperating impression cylinders I and I. Each plate cylinder carries only two plates arranged end toend, and can only print a web two pages wide.

The press-as ordinarily constructed is provided with web guides, a, a a a and b and 6 adjacent the first perfecting mechanism A; and with web guides 6 b and a adjacent the second perfecting mechanism B; by which the respective webs are directed toand through the saidperfecting mechanisms, and

Various attempts have been made to reduce the number of Web rolls required and permit four page wide web rolls to be used by dividing such web and leading the sections thereof to diiferent perfecting mechanisms, but these have heretofore not proven commerciallysuccessful.

In my invention I arrange double width web W placedat one end of the press and so disposed that the transverse center of the main web will be in line with the transverse center of the cylinders in the perfecting mech anisms as shown in Fig. 1. The wide web roll W is mounted in suitable bearings adjacent one end of the press and the web is led over a guideg past a sl tt-er S by which it is dlvided into two equal sections, which pass to and over a guide 9 One section 10 of the web passes from guide g to, over and under an angle bar 1, thence back to and over an angle bar 1*,

the section to being deflected by said bars into r alignment with the perfecting mechanism A and the longitudinal center of such section to being in exact alignment withthe transverse to the guide a, up over the guide a to guide a then between the plate and impression cylinders in perfecting mechanism A, thence under guide a and below the perfecting mechanism 7), to the guide a and thence up over the guide f to the former F.

The section 10 similarly passes from guide 9 under and over an angle bar or deflector 2, thence to, under and over a second angle bar 2a, by which it is brought into exact parallelism with and superposed above the section to with its center in exact alignment with the transverse center of the perfecting 'mechanisms A and B. Section 10 is then led under guide 6 and over guide 6 to guide 6 thence between the plate and impression cylinders in perfecting'mechanism B to guide 72 and thence up to the guide 7, Where it is sembled with section to at the top of the former F.

The angle bars 1 and 2 are arranged at an angle of about 22 or 22 degrees to the web roll and first deflect the web sections w, w backward and toward the center of the roll W at an angle of 45' degrees to the web roll. The sections then pass over the angle bars 1 item;

It will be seen that in this arrangement-- both sections to and 'w of a wide web are directed inwardly and toward each other and caused to overlap and brought directly into alignment; then each section of the Web is passed to a separate printing mechanism a'rranged parallel in astraight line.

The particular'kind of printing mechanisms, or the number of aligned printing mechanisms through which the sections of the web are led, form 110 part of the present in vention.

By this arrangement two or-more narrow printing mechanisms, arranged in line, can be simultaneously supplied with sections of Web taken from a single wide roll of web arranged parallel with the axes of the cylinders in the printing mechanisms; and by this arrangement one Web controlling and feeding mechanism will sufiice to'supply sections of web from a wide roll to different aligned printing mechanisms, which ordinarily require two distinct narrow web rolls and two distinct controlling devices to supply them with webs.

Iclaim: v

1. In combination with a printing press having narrow two page wide printing mechanisms arranged wtih the transverse centers of their cylinders in the same plane means for supporting a wide web roll parallel with the cylinders of the printing mechanisms with its transverse center inline with the transverse centers of the cylinders, means for centrally slitting the wide web, deflecting devices interposed between the roll and the printing mechanisms whereby the divided sections of the web are first deflected inwardly toward each other and then again defiected into exact parallelism with their center longitudinal lines in alignment with the transverse centers of the web roll and the cylinders, and means for directing the aligned sections to their respective printing mechanisms. I

2. In combination with a printing press having narrow two page wide printing mechanisms arranged with the transverse centers of their cylinders in the same vertical plane; means'for supporting a wide web roll'parallel with. the cylinders of the perfectingmechanisms with its transverse center in line with the transverse centers of V the cylinders; means for centrally slitting the wide web; deflecting mechanisms interposed between the roll and printing mechanisms, each deflecting mechanism comprising a pair of parallel deflectors or guides arranged at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the web roll, whereby the opposite sections of the web are first deflected inwardly toward each other and then again deflected into exact parallelism with their central longitudinal lines in align ment with the transverse centers of the web roll and the cylinders, and means for directing the aligned sections to their respective printing mechanisms.

3. In combination with a printing press having narrow two page wide perfecting mechanisms arranged with the transverse centers of their cylinders in the same vertical plane, means for supporting a wide web roll parallel with the cylinders of the perfecting mechanisms with its transverse center in line with the transverse centers of the cylinders, means for dividing the wide web into two sections deflecting mechanisms each comprising a pair of parallel deflectors or guides, respectively arranged at an angle of approximately 22 degrees to the longitudinal axis of the web roll, interposed between the roll and the perfecting mechanisms whereby the 0pposite sections of the web are first deflected inwardly toward each other and then again deflected into exact parallelism one over the other with their central longitudinal lines in alignment with the transverse centers of the web roll and the cylinders, and means for directing the aligned sections to different perfecting mechanisms.

EDMUND W. DEAN. 

